1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejection device.
2. Related Art
An inkjet printer is a conventionally known liquid ejection device configured to eject a liquid onto a medium. In order to maintain or recover a good ejection characteristic, a maintenance process is executed periodically with respect to a liquid ejecting head of this type of liquid ejection device. More specifically, the maintenance process includes a suction process in which a cap member is positioned so as to cap the liquid ejecting head, an internal space of the cap member is pulled to a vacuum with a vacuum pump, and foam and liquid having an increased viscosity is sucked from the nozzles and discarded and a cleaning process in which a nozzle face of the liquid ejecting head is wiped with a wiping member to remove higher viscosity liquid that has adhered to the nozzle face.
After the suction process, a portion of the liquid sometimes remains on an internal wall surface of the cap member or inside a flow passage leading from the cap member to a waste liquid tank. Over time, the viscosity of the residual liquid increases and the liquid hardens in place, possibly having an adverse effect on the suction process. Consequently, the cap member itself periodically requires a maintenance process. For example, in a liquid ejection device presented in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-185795, the cap member is removed from the nozzle face of the liquid ejecting head and the cap member is cleaned with a cleaning liquid ejected from a cleaning liquid nozzle.